Title: Veracity
Author: Laura Bynum
Publisher: Pocket Books
About the book: Harper Adams was six years old in 2012 when an act of viral terrorism wiped out one half of the country's population. Out of the ashes rose a new government, the Confederation of the Willing, dedicated to maintaining order at any cost. The populace is controlled via government-sanctioned sex and drugs, a brutal police force known a the Blue Coats, and a device called the slate, a mandatory implant that monitors every word a person speaks. To utter a Red Listed, forbidden word is to risk physical punishment or even death.
But there are those who resist. Guided by the fabled "Book of Noah," they are determined to shake the people from their apathy and ignorance, and are prepared to start a war in the name of freedom. The newest member of this resistance is Harper -- a woman driven by memories of a daughter lost, a daughter whose very name was erased by the Red List. And she possesses a power that could make her the underground warriors' ultimate weapon -- or the instrument of their destruction. (inside cover)
My thoughts: Let me start by saying I loved this book! I read it very quickly and put all other books aside while I was reading this one. (And if you read my blog you will see that I tend to read more than one book at a time. . .) The story was told by Harper and it went back and forth from the 2020's to the present - 2045. The world as we know it is gone. It was wiped out by a Pandemic when Harper was six and she was taken from her parents and placed with a new set. She was told that her parents did not survive. It was at this age that she had her slate put in. The slate recorded everything that she said, did, where she went and kept her from saying any red listed words. All books were destroyed, as well as art. -- Can you imagine living in a world with books?? I love the sentence on the cover of the book - The only thing more dangerous than the spoken word is silence.
From even before the Pandemic Harper knew that she had "gifts". She could see people's auras, sometimes able to tell what they were thinking/feeling based on these colors. She could also travel outside her body. As a senior she is chosen to be a part of the Monitor program -- even though she does what she can to stay out of it. She is groomed over the years to become the Alpha Sentient. From what I can gather, she was over all the Monitors and made the call on whether a red-listed word was used on purpose. (For example - if a baby who was just learning to talk actually said a word when they were babbling. . .) The Blue Coats would carry out the punishment to those who used these words - and these punishments were always harsh.
I sort of felt that Harper was just wandering through life, doing what she was told, but not actually taking control -- until she decides to make a break and leave for the Underground - to try to win back rights, some of which she did not even know existed. Even there she did not have the confidence in herself to think that she could do what it was required of her in order for the Resistance to win. For her daughter though, she knew she had to try.
I was really invested in this character very early on. I cannot tell you why other than she seemed like someone that I would like to know. She had a good heart, even with being able to see other's auras and tried to help when she could.
About the author: Laura Bynum won the Rupert Hughes Prose Award at the Maui Writer's Conference (2006) for an early version of Veracity. A cum laude graduate of the University of Illinois, she earned her master's degree at Eastern Illinois University. She lives with her husband and three daughters in Virginia, where she is at work on a second novel.
Reading group guide is available.
~I received this book for review from Pocket Books.~
But there are those who resist. Guided by the fabled "Book of Noah," they are determined to shake the people from their apathy and ignorance, and are prepared to start a war in the name of freedom. The newest member of this resistance is Harper -- a woman driven by memories of a daughter lost, a daughter whose very name was erased by the Red List. And she possesses a power that could make her the underground warriors' ultimate weapon -- or the instrument of their destruction. (inside cover)
My thoughts: Let me start by saying I loved this book! I read it very quickly and put all other books aside while I was reading this one. (And if you read my blog you will see that I tend to read more than one book at a time. . .) The story was told by Harper and it went back and forth from the 2020's to the present - 2045. The world as we know it is gone. It was wiped out by a Pandemic when Harper was six and she was taken from her parents and placed with a new set. She was told that her parents did not survive. It was at this age that she had her slate put in. The slate recorded everything that she said, did, where she went and kept her from saying any red listed words. All books were destroyed, as well as art. -- Can you imagine living in a world with books?? I love the sentence on the cover of the book - The only thing more dangerous than the spoken word is silence.
From even before the Pandemic Harper knew that she had "gifts". She could see people's auras, sometimes able to tell what they were thinking/feeling based on these colors. She could also travel outside her body. As a senior she is chosen to be a part of the Monitor program -- even though she does what she can to stay out of it. She is groomed over the years to become the Alpha Sentient. From what I can gather, she was over all the Monitors and made the call on whether a red-listed word was used on purpose. (For example - if a baby who was just learning to talk actually said a word when they were babbling. . .) The Blue Coats would carry out the punishment to those who used these words - and these punishments were always harsh.
I sort of felt that Harper was just wandering through life, doing what she was told, but not actually taking control -- until she decides to make a break and leave for the Underground - to try to win back rights, some of which she did not even know existed. Even there she did not have the confidence in herself to think that she could do what it was required of her in order for the Resistance to win. For her daughter though, she knew she had to try.
I was really invested in this character very early on. I cannot tell you why other than she seemed like someone that I would like to know. She had a good heart, even with being able to see other's auras and tried to help when she could.
About the author: Laura Bynum won the Rupert Hughes Prose Award at the Maui Writer's Conference (2006) for an early version of Veracity. A cum laude graduate of the University of Illinois, she earned her master's degree at Eastern Illinois University. She lives with her husband and three daughters in Virginia, where she is at work on a second novel.
Reading group guide is available.
~I received this book for review from Pocket Books.~
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Veracity
Publisher/Publication Date: Pocket Books, Jan 5, 2010
ISBN:978-1-4391-2334-8
384 pages
1 comment:
Wow, that sounds like a good one. It really sounds like it would make you think about what's important in life.
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